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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. clip — a video
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. scale — size or range
  6. last — finally
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. ground — a position
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. ground — the earth
  11. ground — crushed
  12. last — final
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. last — to go on
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. scale — in music
  18. rest — a break
  19. clip — to cut
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — what's left
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. clip — for paper
  24. calf — of the leg

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com